Juicing and Menopause

At 39 I was a single mom, stressed to the max, diagnosed with asthma, entering back into the work world, already starting to have hot flashes and adrenal problems and my immune system was shot. One of my girlfriends was learning something called "Live Blood Cell Analysis" and she took a drop of my blood and put it under a microscope. She said I had "rouleau" and my blood cells were clumped together (a sign of lack of oxygen and a run down feeling). No argument there.

We talked about juicing and she highly recommended it. After about 3 months I came back and we did the test again. This time the results looked much different. There was a lot more movement. My blood cells were not clumped together. They looked .... alive...more indicative to how I was feeling which was much better.

So, I decided I would continue juicing and I've been juicing almost daily since then.

Some cool facts about juicing:

· What we put into our systems determines the health of every cell and organ in our bodies. Fresh extracted juice is totally different from store bought juice. Made fresh and consumed on the spot, juices instantly release nourishment to the body through the bloodstream.

· Juicing allows you to consume the daily required amount of fruits and veggies in a very easy and delicious way.

· Juicing helps you to raise your pH especially if you juice dark leafy greens and add things like chlorella and spirulina to it. Raising your pH can be extremely helpful if you tend to have candida, yeast infections, or bladder infections.

You will see improvement in a very short time. You will also become very conscious of what you put into your body.

Some things to be aware of:

· Be careful with juicing fruits, beets and carrots. The extracted juice has a high sugar content. If you have blood sugar or yeast issues than use mostly celery and some leafy greens and add a little apple, carrot or beet for sweetening because you never want to drink juice that is bitter. Apple is very compatible with vegetables. A simple recipe would look something like this:

3 celery ribs, 1 carrot, handful of spinach, half of an apple

· Our fruits and vegetables these days are not what they use to be because they are so laden with pesticides and chemicals. Organic is always best. An alternative is to soak your produce in a mixture of baking soda and apple cider vinegar. When I'm ready to juice my produce I put everything in a little plastic tub in my kitchen sink and I sprinkle baking soda over it and then pour some apple cider vinegar on top. The combination "fizzes" and helps to pull out some of the pesticides and chemicals. I add some water and let it sit for a little while and then rinse thoroughly with warm water and proceed to put it through my juicer. I don't like cold fluid in my stomach and rinsing them in warm water helps to make my juice a perfect temperature.

Basically, if you start juicing, just let the creative part of you come out and "play" and you will know as you go along what works for you and what doesn't.

Start slowly

· Be careful not to use too many carrots, beets, fruits if you have yeast or blood sugar issues
· Try adding a little bit of bok choy, kale, romaine, green leaf, swiss chard. (Use sparingly if it tastes bitter)
· Then later on you can experiment by adding a little parsley or cilantro
· If you like a "kick" try adding garlic or ginger
· Don't forget to add things like green powders (chlorella & spirulina)

There's no comparison to having a glass of fresh liquid POWER to start your day!

Early Onset Menopause and the Adrenal Glands

There are many factors which may cause early onset menopause in younger women. The most obvious reason is an imbalance in the hormones estrogen and progesterone, but there's usually more than just an imbalance at play. Various environmental factors can contribute to the onset of early menopause such as stress, exposure to chemicals, and adrenal fatigue. Often thought of as a symptom of menopause, adrenal fatigue can in fact be the key aggravator of many of the symptoms you experience. Getting away from stressors and healing your adrenal glands is often imperative to overcoming many symptoms of pre menopause such as hot flashes.

How the adrenal glands can trigger early menopause symptoms

To obtain a better understanding of how adrenal fatigue develops and aggravates menopausal discomfort, it is important to understand the function of your adrenal glands and how the functioning relates to stress. The adrenal glands are tiny triangular glands located above each kidney, where they function as the manufacturing center of several hormones including adrenaline, progesterone, estrogen, and cortisol. The main task of the adrenal glands is to place your body in "fight or flight" mode when you encounter stress or a threatening situation. This "fight or flight" mode kicks on when the adrenal glands increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol.

The human body isn't meant to sustain high levels of cortisol all the time. Today, chronic stress is a major part of our lives. Instead of the occasional stressful encounter followed by a long rest, we're always overworked, exhausted, under-nourished, and constantly worrying about ourselves and others. All the challenges we encounter can put stress on the adrenal glands, and this list is endless - unresolved emotional issues, deadlines, financial problems, relationship turmoil, etc. To keep ourselves going, we consume high amounts of caffeine so we can stay awake and alert. The end result is that our adrenal glands are constantly on alert, producing cortisol to help us cope.

The effect of high cortisol levels on pre menopausal women

In healthy amounts, cortisol can help us meet our daily challenges by neutralizing inflammation, releasing glycogen, and metabolizing protein into energy. However, high amounts of cortisol will cause wear and tear on the body - it slows down healing, destroys healthy bone and muscle, and weakens the immune system. The adrenal glands are affected by the body's need for more cortisol too. To keep producing cortisol, the adrenal glands work harder than usual, which means they lose the ability to produce the hormone DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone). DHEA is the precursor to the sex hormones testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone; when DHEA is in short supply, estrogen and progesterone are in short supply too. This happens because our bodies will always favor survival (the main function of the adrenal glands) over reproduction. This is why menopausal symptoms may set in early as stressed-out women reach their late 30s and early 40s where the production of estrogen and progesterone begins to decline naturally.

Heal your adrenal glands to age gracefully

Overcoming adrenal fatigue begins with getting away from the sources of your stress and helping your body to cope with stressors. As a place to start, reduce your consumption of caffeine and other stimulants, and eat healthy, nutritious foods that support adrenal function. Take time off to relax - get a massage, enroll in a yoga class, or curl up with a good book at home. Try to take it easy and get at least eight hours of sleep each night to help your body recover from a long day's work.

Dealing With Menopause - Some Remedies From Nature

Menopause. Do you find yourself shivering whenever you hear or think of this word? If you do, you are not the only one. A lot of women may feel queasy just thinking about this natural phenomenon.

Why do many women feel this way about menopause? Well, it may be largely due to the myths surrounding the issue and the various discomforts that middle-aged women experience as they go through menopause.

Well, truth be known, not all of the pains and discomforts associated with menopause can be tied to this natural phenomenon. Technically speaking, the only real symptoms of menopause are hot flashes (or flushes), night sweating and vaginal dryness. All other symptoms associated with this new phase in the middle aged woman's life such as insomnia, mood swings, depression and weight gain can be considered as signs of aging and are not due to menopause.

No matter how discomforting the symptoms of menopause may be, the good news is that there are a lot of ways to go about it. There are a lot of natural remedies available within your reach, if you only knew what to look for. Consider these strategies - they can be the ones that can help you manage the symptoms more easily:

Keep your cool. Your body's thermostat may stop functioning properly once the level of estrogen in your body starts to decline. When this happens, you may experience extremely hot or cold sensations regardless of whatever the prevailing weather and the temperature may be at the moment. This event leads to that much controversial (and dreaded) hot flashes and night sweating during menopause.

To reduce the occurrence and the severity of these discomforting episodes, you need to drink a lot of water - lots and lots of it! As a rule, you need to gulp down at least 8 tall glasses of steam-distilled water every day. It would be extremely helpful if you can take 800 mg of primrose oil 3 times during the day and 300 IU of vitamin E once daily. These supplements can be very effective in solving these problems of menopause. You may even be surprised by what it can do for you!

Or if you want a more powerful treatment for the problem, try combining about 2 teaspoons of cohosh root tincture with 1 teaspoon each of sarsaparilla, chaste tree, don quai root, licorice root and ginseng root tinctures. Mix the ingredients well. Take 3 droppers full of this mixture on a daily basis and watch your problem subside!

Say no to vaginal dryness - As the estrogen level drops, the vaginal walls eventually become thinner and drier. This leads to the vaginal dryness that most middle-aged women experience. To help prevent this condition from setting in, fortify your diet with lots of foods containing vitamin C, beta-carotene and selenium or you may take these nutrients in pill form.

For maximum results, you may need to take in at least 2,000 mg of vitamin C, 10 mg of beta-carotene and 50 mcg of selenium. These will not only make your vaginal dryness problems a thing of the past - these nutrients can even give you back your youthful beauty in the process! What a bonus!

Or you can try mixing 2 drops of geranium essential oil and one capsule of 1,000 IU of vitamin E to an ounce of almond oil. Apply this mixture inside and outside the vagina twice a day and see the difference it would make!

Foods That Help During Menopause and Joint Pain

Vegetable oils should be avoided; but you may continue using olive oil and the essential fatty acids flax seed, sesame, pumpkin, borage, as well as sunflower oils during menopause and joint pain.

MSG (monosodium gluconate) as well as alcohol should be avoided. Garden sage leaf infusion or even tincture can prevent joint aches and improve circulation. Essential fatty acids tend to have anti-inflammatory properties. You may take a spoonful of fresh flax seed or evening primrose oil several times in a day as this can relieve pain within a few days. Regular use helps in preventing aching joints during menopause and joint pain.

Ginger baths, soaks, as well as compresses tend to bring soothing, warm relief to sore as well as aching joints. This way you can take control of your menopause and joint pain, naturally.

After all, arthritis is not an inevitable sign of aging, nor is it a sign of a condition such as arthritis. Instead, arthritis can be a sign of chronic inflammation or even hormonal imbalance during menopause. When women are able to solve these underlying problems, they will find their arthritis and stiffness to significantly improve, or even disappear altogether.

Typically, the healthy immune system tends to trigger the inflammatory response in order to deal with injury or infection. But in many women, this inflammatory response tends to reduce and will prevent cell regeneration and repair. It will gradually tears down tissues, including those in the joints.

Chronic inflammation can even be due to a diet that is high in refined carbohydrates and sugars as well as too low in essential fatty acids. A high-carb diet tends to promote prolonged high levels of insulin that disrupts cellular metabolism and even spreads inflammation. Stress is also an issue in the case of menopause and arthritis. Cortisol is the hormone released in response to stress that works as an inflammatory agent.

Joint Pain Relief Through Natural Remedies and Herbal Treatments

Every individual is in the risk of having joint pains, be it due to aging or some other factors. Whatever may be the cause; it is very often unbearable and demand emergency treatment. Age related joint pains like arthritis must be controlled through proper medication and remedies to prevent crippling and disability of the body. Free movement is greatly impaired in acute cases of arthritis related joint pains with frustrations creeping in gradually. Women experience problem after menopause due to the drastic drop in the estrogen levels.

Knee, shoulders, back and hip joints are mostly affected due to aging whereas some may experience pains in the wrists, fingers, ankles and heels.

Symptoms

1. Swelling and inflammation followed by acute pain.
2. Redness and tenderness of the joints.

Causes

1. Due to wear and tear of the cartilage due to aging.
2. Autoimmune disease
3. Gout
4. Physical injuries
5. Infection at joints
6. Low hormonal levels in women after menopause.

Treatment

Apart from the usage of over the counter NSAID's and steroids, following treatments are of great help in providing relief from the this problem and that too without any serious side effects.

1. Exercises play a great role in reducing various types of pains, especially swimming. Swimming in a heated pool gives the best results.

2. Bathing with Epsom salt or magnesium sulfate. This particular compound has good anti-inflammatory properties which are well absorbed by the skin. About 40 minutes of bathing gives good results.

3. Massaging with a mixture of camphor oil, menthol and eucalyptus oil on the affected areas alleviates the pains.

4. Joint pains due to arthritis can be reduced by drinking few cups of green tea regularly. Green tea has special constituents that protect the cartilage from wearing out.

5. Elimination of certain foods like meat, beef which are high in protein helps in reducing this problem. The protein can be substituted by vegetables and fish.

6. Dairy products should be avoided excluding the low fat yoghurt.

7. Alcohol consumption must be stopped totally.

8. The herb Boswelia Serrata has high anti-inflammatory properties and enhances the blood circulation to the joints that helps in reducing the pains.

9. The roots of Ashwagandha are beneficial in treating Rheumatoid Arthritis.

10. Ginger roots are also used for this treatment, which prevents the production of prostaglandins and leukotrienes, which are responsible for this problem.

11. Women need sufficient dietary calcium supplements like low fat milk, yoghurt to prevent the weakening of bones and joint pains after menopause.

12. Application of turmeric and lime paste or drinking milk adding turmeric is a good remedy to alleviate joint pains.

13. Massage with Rumatone Gold oil give good relief.

Woman and Menopause: Symptoms and Treatment

Menopause is the stage in a woman's life when the menstrual cycle stops. This is not a disease; rather it is a natural process in a woman's life. However, the stage when a woman has her menopause could be a very painful and mentally debilitating stage. There could be several complications.

From an Ayurvedic point of view, menses is the flow of excess pitta from the woman's body. Menses is called as Raja in Ayurveda. For this reason, the stoppage of the menses flow permanently, i.e. menopause is called as Raja Nivrutti, which literally means retirement of menses.

Menopause is a culmination of all the three doshas of the woman's body. The menses themselves are pitta, while the woman may gain in her weight during this time. This indicates a kapha imbalance. Since the woman may become moody and even lose her sleep during menopause, there is a strong indication of the vata dosha at play also.

Menopause can occur in women after the age of 45 years, though this widely varies from one woman to another. The average menopausal age could be taken as 51 years. It must be made clear that menopause is not an abrupt end to the menses. The decline of the menstrual flow occurs gradually as the months progress. Generally, a woman is said to have had her menopause if there has been no menstrual flow for at least one year.

(1) Useful Herbs in the Treatment of Menopause

1. Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)

Ashwagandha is more popularly known as Indian Ginseng for its believed aphrodisiacal properties. In the case of menopause, this herb is usually prescribed to cure insomnia and mood swings.

2. Beetroot (Beta vulgaris)

Beetroot is found to be extremely effective in making the menopausal experience less painful. It should be taken as a salad, in which the beetroots are boiled with their peel on. The peel must be removed before eating.

3. Indian Spikenard (Nardostachys jatamansi)

Known popularly as the jatamansi in India, this is another herb prescribed to cure insomnia and mood swings. For such benefits, this herb is prescribed to be taken along with ashwagandha.

(2) Dietary Treatments for Menopause

The complications during menopause can be reduced by bringing about changes in the dietary patterns. There are some very beneficial points that can be followed:-

4. Bitter foods are good dietary indications. The dark green leafy vegetables are mostly bitter in taste. They must be regularly incorporated in the diet as a woman is moving towards her menopause.

5. Astringent foods are also advantageous. These foods include beans, soybeans, potatoes, cabbages and poultry foods. Both the bitter and the astringent foods help in reducing the excess heat in the woman's body that is produced during menopause.

6. Foods that are sour, salty and pungent are contra-indications for menopause. Onions, garlic, mustard and chilies are pungent foods. Tomatoes, tamarinds, vinegars and curds are sour foods. These must be avoided.

7. Consume foods that can provide some phyto-estrogens. Such foods are watermelon, berries, legumes, licorice and pomegranates.

During menopause, the need of the following nutrients increases:-

a) Vitamin D - obtained from egg yolk, milk and animal liver

b) Vitamin K - obtained from green vegetables, cereals and animal foods

c) Magnesium - obtained from nuts, bananas and dairy products

d) Manganese - obtained from cereal, bran, nuts and tea

e) Calcium - obtained from milk and milk products.

(3) Ayurvedic Treatments for Menopause

Chandraprabha is the tablet of choice that most physicians would provide for menopausal problems. This tablet helps in reducing the vata vitiation which is one of the foremost causes of menopausal problems. Along with this, Punarnavasava or Lodhrasava must be taken thrice in 15 milliliters doses for a month. In order to increase the strength of the body, Dashamoolarishta and Pradari Lauha are prescribed.

If there are hot flushes during menopause (which increase body temperature and then cause sudden chills), then Ashokarishta is given along with Useerasava.

For any irritations or infections that may occur in the vagina during menopause, Gokshuradi Guggulu is prescribed to be taken in doses of two pills twice a day.

Massaging the back with Chandanaadi taila helps to allay insomnia and mood swings which can occur due to vata vitiations during menopause.

(4) Home Remedies for Menopause

1. Licorice must be consumed in fair amounts during menopause. It has the phyto-estrogens that are necessary to correct the hormonal imbalances during menopause.

2. Have beetroot juice daily or include it in salads.

3. Another recipe is to boil a few carrot seeds in a glassful of milk. Consume this milk with carrot seeds in it on a daily basis.

4. During menopause, there is a chance of osteoporosis setting in due to loss of calcium. Hence take adequate care of your calcium intake. The foods mentioned above must be had in the proper amount to maintain calcium levels.

5. Maintain a healthy active regime. Sluggishness and a sedentary life will make the menopausal process quite difficult.

Menopause Natural Remedy - A Secret Treatment

A good liver cleanse is perhaps the most underrated menopause natural remedy out there. We're all aware of how important the heart and the brain are to the human body, but did you know that a well-functioning liver is just as critical to your health? The liver is responsible for filtering out toxins and excess hormones, and any problems with its excretory functions may contribute to estrogen dominance - which will only aggravate your menopause symptoms. Cleansing your liver and improving its functions may be the key to getting rid of hot flashes and other uncomfortable sensations for good.

The liver and estrogen dominance during menopause
You might be wondering - where does this estrogen dominance come from? Aren't menopause symptoms caused by the drop in estrogen levels? Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth. The cosmetics, pesticides, and plastics we use contain a substance called xenoestrogens - chemical preservatives that mimics estrogen's effects in our bodies when we absorb them through the skin. This normally wouldn't be a problem if our bodies had enough progesterone to counteract estrogen's harmful actions. The problem is that our progesterone levels drop faster than estrogen, leaving our bodies with high concentrations of this chemical wreaking havoc on our cells and our mood.

Although you can avoid estrogen with organic products and counteract their effects with natural progesterone, you also need a healthy liver to get rid of all the xenoestrogens in your body. The liver naturally declines in function as we age, especially after a lifetime of taking medication and other substances that weaken it. A liver that cannot eliminate xenoestrogens and other toxins as efficiently will cause estrogen to build up in the body. And since our polluted environment keeps bombarding our liver with chemicals, toxins, and excess hormones, it's not surprising that our livers are constantly overworked!

Cleansing the liver with herbs to naturally treat menopausal symptoms
Heal your liver and help it regain its functions with a good liver cleanse. These herbs are known for their abilities to detoxify the liver.

* Tumeric - an important herb in Ayurvedic medicine, turmeric is a powerful anti-oxidant that can stimulate the production of bile - the substance that aids in fat digestion. Xenoestrogens are often stored in fat, and the doubled production of bile will help the body go through these chemicals more efficiently.

* Milk thistle - a strong anti-toxin, milk thistle can regulate the liver's function through its curcumin content.

* Yellow dock - like turmeric, yellow dock regulates the secretion of bile and helps dissolve fat in the liver.

* Lycopodium - this herb is derived from moss and is great for liver detox, getting rid of kidney stones, and eliminating gall stones.

* Finge tree - aside from stimulating the production of bile, finge tree protects against liver diseases like hepatitis.

These herbs are available as individual remedies or as combined liver flush treatments. Cleaning up your diet by eating fewer refined carbohydrates and more raw foods will also go a long way in treating your liver. Refined foods will only add unnecessary burden to the liver, whereas fruits and vegetables can improve its function by nourishing it with vitamins and minerals.